We sat down with Iyer at a very interesting time for the pianist and composer in that he has the rare opportunity to look into the future and already see the tangible success he will be achieving in the next few years. Check out Part 1 of our interview to read about the ‘Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams Project,’ and below for his insight on this coming weekend’s Open City Big Band performance, and his future teaching with tenure at Harvard.

Vijay Iyer is the type of artist that can speak equally eloquently and intelligently on a musical and academic level about the work he is doing and the goals he sets for both himself and his projects. We sat down with Iyer at a very interesting time for the pianist and composer in that he has the rare opportunity to look into the future and already see the tangible success he will be achieving in the next few years. Read on as we discuss the recent past in ‘Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams Project,’ his coming weekend’s big band concert, and his future teaching with tenure at Harvard as well as receiving a MacArthur Genius Grant.

At the age of 26, Jon Batiste is only starting to show his potential to shape the development of popular music for generations to come. A true connoisseur of musical communication and tradition, Batiste is truly at his finest up close and personal whether he’s sharing his knowledge at the Jazz Museum in Harlem or starting a love riot in the streets of the Lower East Side. Today we discuss the development of his new genre of music entitled “social music” and his subsequent album of the same title with his Stay Human band that will drop on 10/15/13.